Acoustical building structure



ACOUSTICAL BUILDING STRUCTURE Filed July 30, 1932 qlNV-ENTO s in 57 Her/4w? H/ZEEREM OL IVE/v? E 6155 ON. 33 BY A'i'TQRNEY? Patented Apr. 16, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ACOUSTIGAL BUILDING STRUCTURE Application July 30, 1932, Serial-No. 626,755

22 Claims.

This invention relates to building constructions, and has reference more particularly to wall and ceiling constructions adapted for the correction of the acoustics in a building.

In the construction of the ceilings of buildings of the type employing a perforated metal membrane backed by sound absorbing fiber pads, it is desirable to have the erection operation as simple as possible in order to reduce the cost thereof. It is desirable to have the acoustical pads combined as a unit with the perforated metal membrane and so arranged that the resulting unit can be snapped into place on its supporting structural strip vby a simple upward movement.

An object of this invention, therefore, is to provide an acoustical ceiling construction in which the erection is as simple and inexpensive as possible.

Another object of the invention is to provide proved perforated metal membranes,

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation through a ceiling construction employing the membrane units of the invention, taken on line 22 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional elevation through a building construction and shows details of the membrane unit and clip structure in sectional elevation as viewed when taken substantially on line 3--3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of the attaching clips,

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are perspective views of modified forms of attaching clips, and

Fig. 7 is a perspective, sectional view of a form of construction employing a further modified form of attaching clip.

In constructing our improved ceiling construction, we attach to a ceiling surface I0, a metal runner or rail II comprising two channels having their webs spot-welded in back-to-back position, said rails having upper outstanding flanges I2 and lower outstanding flanges I3. The upper flanges I2 may be attached to the ceiling surface II] by nails, screws, detachable clips or any other suitable fastening device. The rails are attached to theceiling surface In in spaced parallel relation with a center-to-center distance substantially equal to the width of perforated metal membranes I5 which are suspended below said rails in a manner tobe hereinafter described.

The membranes l5 are preferably square, but they may be rectangular or any other, desired shape. These membranes are provided on two opposite edges with outstanding flanges I I, and on the two other opposite edges with outstanding flanges I8 of somewhat greater width than the flanges II. Beveled sections I9 connect the membrane I5 with the flanges I1 and I8. A plurality of severed slits are formed in each of the flanges I! and the section of metal above said slit is forced inwardly to form an offset strap 2|. A plurality of bars 22 have outwardly extended flanges 23 formed one on each end of each bar, and said flanges extend downwardly on the outside of the offset straps 2I into the space between said straps and the remainder of the flange I1,

so that said bars 22 form parallel supports for a fibrous pad 25 of acoustical sound absorbing material, such as mineral wool, hair felt or the like. It will be seen that the pad 25 is supported a substantial distance above the membrane I5 which aids somewhat in increasing the sound absorption efiiciency of the unit when sound passes through perforations 21 formed in the membrane I5 to be absorbed by the pad 25. The'perforations cover the entire area of the membrane I5 r and may be triangular, round, square or any other desired shape.

In order to suspend the membrane I5 from the rails II we provide resilient clips 29 which are preferably S-shape. is formed into an upwardly inclined cam surface flange 3| which is connected by latching shoulder 32 to the clip leg 30. Another leg 33 of the clip 29 is comparatively narrow and is arranged to slide into a retaining strap 35 which is struck out from one of the flanges I8 so as to form a retaining socket for the leg 33. The latching shoulder flange 32 extends over the S-shaped clip 29, and as the membrane I5 is moved upwardly, the cam surface 3| contacts with the edge of one of the rail flanges I3 so that the clip 29 is flexed sufliciently to permit the latching shoulder 32 to snap into place on top of the flange I3. In order to prevent undue flexure of the clip 29 during the upward movement of the membrane I5, an outstanding lug 31 is formed on the clip leg and is arranged to bear against the inner surface of the membrane I5. Several of the attaching straps are provided along the flanges I8 because where as the ceiling is erected close to a wall. it

One leg 30 of the clip 29 I may be necessary to cut one of the membranes short of its full width, in which case the clip flange 33 may be moved over to one of the other attaching straps 35.

The form of attaching clip shown in Fig. 4 is substantially the same as that shown in Figs. and 3 except as to the latching arrangement. A latching shoulder 38 is preferably triangular in shape and is provided with an upstanding triangular shaped flange 39. An outstanding lip 40 is formed along the inclined upper edge of the flange 39, said lip 40 being arranged to bear against the edge of the rail flange I3 during the upward movement of the membrane I5. The form of clip shown in Fig. 5 is practically the same as that shown in Fig. 4 except that the guiding lug 31 is omitted. The form of clip shown in Fig. 6 is substantially U-shaped and an upwardly inclined flange 4| is formed along the inner edge of a triangular shaped latching shoulder 42. The upwardly inclined edge of the flange 4| has an outwardly extending lip 43 so that the cam surface for engaging the rail flange I3 is formed at the Junction between the flange 4| and lip 43.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 7, an offset strap or plate 45 has depressed ends 45 which may be secured to a membrane |5a by spotweld 41 or the like, so that the plate 45 is spaced apart a slight distance from said membrane l5a. An attaching clip 48 extends vertically and has an outstanding flange 49 which extends underneath the plate 45 so as to attach the clip 48 to membrane I511. The upper part of the clip 48 is provided with an aperture 50 through which extends a latching lug 5|, which extends transversely from a leg 52 which is connected to the clip 48 by a resilient loop 53. The latching lug 5| has an inclined cam surface 54 which is arranged to engage the lower edge of the rail flange l3 during the upward movement of the membrane into its flnal position below the beam.

We would state in conclusion that while the illustrated examples constitute practical embodiments of our invention, we do not wish to limit ourselves precisely to these details, since manifestly, the same may be considerably varied without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In an acoustical building construction, a building surface, hanger means connected with said surface, rails supported by said hanger means, perforated, metallic membranes forming the exposed surface of the structure, and clips detachably secured to said membranes, said clips having latches adapted for snapping engagement with said rails.

2. A building surface characterized by being fireproof, easily washable, and esthetically pleasing, said surface comprising perforated, metallic membranes having resilient clips detachably secured in place on the inner face of said membranes, said clips adapting said membranes to be snapped into place againstmetallic support means.

3.-A fire and vermin-proof acoustical construction for buildings, comprising a building surface, support means, a perforated, metallic, membrane subsurface, and vermin-proof, sound absorbent material between said surfaces, said metallic membranes being provided with oifset, spaced straps or plates, and resilient clips having transversely extending flanges extending below said straps or plates so as toupport said membranes on said support means and adapting said membranes to be snapped into place below said sup port means.

4. In a building structure, a perforated metallic membrane surface construction comprising supports provided with engagement means, and latching clips detachably secured to offset straps struck from the metal of said membrane, said clips having resilient means for snapping into engagement with said engagement means on said supports.

5. A perforated membrane unit for building structures, comprising a planular face, transversely extending flanges formed on said mem brane, and an individual resilient clip detachably secured to one of said flanges, said clip having a latch adapted for snapping engagement with a building support.

6. A perforated membrane for acoustical building structures, comprising a planular face blank, a separate resilient latching clip, and means associated with a transversely extending flange on said membrane providing a support for said clip.

7. In a perforated, metallic unit for building structures, a planular face blank, the edges of said blank being turned upwardly to form sides, a clip having a flange detachably secured to one of said sides, and a resiliently held latch member formed on said clip for snapping engagement with a structural member.

8. In a clip for supporting perforated metallic membranes, a body portion, a flange extending transversely from said body portion, said body portion being provided with an aperture, 9. resilient loop formed on said body portion and having a latch member extending through said aperture, said latch member being arranged to detachably secure said membranes to a structural member.

9. In a building construction, a supporting beam having an outstanding flange, a perforated, metallic membrane having upturned edges enaging the bottom of said flange, an offset plate associated with said membrane, a resilient clip having an outstanding section engaging under said plate, a resilient section associated with said clip, said resilient section being provided with a cam surface inclined at an acute angle to the horizontal, a shoulder formed on said resilient I section below said cam surface, said cam surface being arranged to engage said flange after said membrane and clips are manually actuated in an upwardly direction so as to cause said resilient section to flex and permit said shoulder to seat on top of said flange, thus supporting said membrane on said flange.

- 10. In means for supporting perforated metal membranes upon structural strips, a resilient clip having outstanding sections arranged to engage said membranes, a cam surface and latching shoulder formed on said clip, said shoulder being arranged to latch over a portion of a strip after the cam surface is caused to engage said strip by upward manual actuation of said membranes, and a lug formed on said clip adjacent said latch shoulder, said lug being arranged to engage the inner face of said membranes so as to prevent undue distortion of said clip during the latching operation.

11. In an acoustical building construction, a. perforated, metal membrane having outstanding flanges formed around the edges thereof, support bars connecting two opposite flanges, a fibrous pad supported on said bars, and latches carried by two other opposite flanges for-connecting said membrane to a structural strip.

12. A clip adapted for securing a membrane unit to a support in a building structure, comprising a body portion, a flange for frictional en-' gagement with said unit, means for engaging said support, and a resilient portion adapted to flex when said clip is pressed against a support.

13. A clip adapted for securing a membrane unit to a support in a building structure, comprising a body portion, a flange for frictional connection to said unit, means for engaging said supp'ort,"and a resilient portion intermediate saidbody portion and said means adapted to flex when said clip is pressed against a support.

14. In a membrane unit structure, a membrane having a substantial face area, upstanding flanges on the edges of said membrane and forming the outer boundaries of said membrane, the flanges of two opposite edges providing abutment faces for adjacent membranes and being wider than the remaining edge flanges, and ofiset strap means on said wider flanges for receiving clips for attaching said membrane to support means. 15. In a perforated membrane unit structure for acoustical purposes, a membrane having a substantial face area, upstanding flanges on the edges of said membrane and forming the outer boundaries of said membrane, the flanges of two opposite edges providing abutment faces for adjacent membranes and being wider than the remaining edge flanges, clips on said wider flanges for attaching said membrane to support means, and said remaining upstanding flanges being provided with means for receiving support bars to span said membrane and provide support for sound absorbent material. v

16. A metallic membrane building surface, comprising individual units, means for supporting said units, resilient clip means for connecting said units to said supporting means, said, clip means comprising a body portion and means for resilient engagement with said supporting means, and a strap member attached in spaced relationship to the inner face of a membrane unit for providing means for frictionally engaging said clip means.

17. In an acoustical building construction, a perforated membrane having flanges formed around the edges thereof, support bars connecting two opposite flanges, a sound absorbing pad supported on said bars, and latch means carried by two other opposite flanges for connecting said membrane to a support member, said respective flanges being provided with means for engageport means, said straps being in greater number than the clips used so that after a portion of said membrane is severed there will be straps to receive clips on theremaining part.

19. A clip adapted for securing a membrane unit to a support in a building structure, comprising a resilient loop body portion, means for connecting said clip to a membrane, and means for engaging a support, the axis of said resilient loop body portion being in substantially perpendicular relationship to said membrane.

20. A clip adapted for securing a membrane unit to a support, comprising a resilient loop,

flanged support, a membrane unit below said support, a flange at the edge of said membrane, and a latching clip adjacent said membrane edge, said clip having a latch engaging over a flange of said support and forming the active connection for said membrane unit with said support, said latching means bearing against one face of said support flange and urging said membrane toward said support, whereby said membrane flange is brought into substantial contact with the other side of said support flange.

22. In a structure of the class described, parallel flanged supports, membrane units below said supports in edge-to-edge relationship, flanges at the edges of said membranes, latching clips adjacent said membrane edges, said clips having latches for engaging over the flanges of said supports and forming the active connection for said mem- 4 brane units with said supports, said latching means bearing against one face of said support flanges and urging said membranes toward said supports, whereby said membrane flanges are brought into substantial contact with the other sides of said support flanges.

- ARTHUR A. HEEREN.

OLIVER E. GIBSON. 

